In recent years, Bihar has sought to move beyond its traditional agrarian image and position itself as an industrial destination in eastern India. Industries and sports minister Shreyasi Singh discusses the state’s sector-specific policies, infrastructure and investor outreach in an interview with TOI’s Sheezan Nezami. Excerpts:Almost all states have policies to attract investors. What is the USP of Bihar and what is your department doing differently?Every state has a policy document. The difference in Bihar is what we put on the table before an investor spends a rupee.Start with land, where most states lose the investor. Under the Bihar Industrial Investment Promotion Package, a unit investing Rs 100 crore and creating 1,000 jobs gets up to 10 acres for a token rupee. Above Rs 1,000 crore, it gets up to 25 acres.Then there is capital. Interest subvention of up to Rs 40 crore, capital subsidy of up to 30% of the project cost, SGST reimbursement over 14 years, and refunds on stamp duty and land conversion charges.Then comes time, which is what an entrepreneur really loses money on — 18 months spent levelling land, chasing a power connection and laying a drain. Plug-and-play removes all that. It is available on lease starting from just Rs 4 per sq ft a month. The investor brings machinery and starts.We have investors who went from application to production in 55 days. Land at a rupee, capital subsidised, clearance in 30 days, a plug-and-play shed ready to switch on — that is not a pitch, that is a running start.What are the sectors your department is primarily focusing on?There are several sectors in which we are working simultaneously. Food processing, to turn agricultural abundance into value and raise farmer incomes. Another is textiles and leather, the biggest job creators after agriculture. At Bela in Muzaffarpur, we have built one of India’s finest textile clusters, which houses fully export-oriented units as well as the country’s largest bag manufacturing cluster.IT, ITeS, EVs and electronics, to leap into high-productivity sectors. Clean energy, CBG and nuclear, for cheap, reliable power. Steel, our heavy-industry base. The steel and energy commitments came in a single day, on Aug 6, in MoUs totalling Rs 51,600 crore. And MSMEs, so industrialisation reaches every district, not just a few.Your department held Bihar Business Connect in 2024, where MoUs worth around Rs 1.81 lakh crore were signed. How much has come on the ground? Are you planning any such event in future?Let me give you the honest arithmetic. We signed 423 MoUs worth Rs 1.81 lakh crore across 11 sectors, three times the previous year. Roughly three out of four have moved into implementation — land taken, clearances underway, construction begun. I will not claim every proposal becomes a factory; companies revise plans everywhere. But this is tracked project by project and the chief minister reviews it himself.Bihar Business Connect 2026 is being prepared under the theme ‘Build and Believe in Bihar’. This time we will not just show investors a presentation. We will show them a running factory.You talk of attracting giant players and making the state an industry hub. Is Bihar ready with infrastructure and other support?Definitely. Every district in Bihar is within about two hours of an airport, and our road network is among the best in the country. We have sector-specific policies for pharma, defence and more, and the state’s first MSME policy is on the way, built around jobs for the youth and an earning hand in every household. The industrial policy is being fine-tuned and both will be in place in the next two to three months.On ease of doing business, the reform is now statutory. Everything runs through a single window — the investor no longer walks from department to department. If the nod does not come in 30 days, on the 31st day it is deemed approved.Is land not a challenge for your department?Not at all. We are acquiring nearly 14,000 acres more, and under the BIADA exit policy, we are pulling back plots that have sat idle for years — 87 acres in one round alone, against which we expect Rs 1,200 crore of fresh investment. Land allotted must produce.The integrated manufacturing cluster at Dobhi in Gaya, spread over 1,670 acres, has completed acquisition and has environmental clearance in hand. We are acquiring 1,300 acres more at this location.You are a young minister and have been given charge of the industries department. How much is the pressure?Pressure is not new to me. I have stood on a range with one shot left. Pressure only troubles you if you have not done the work. I came up in a sport where women were not expected to win. Bihar is in that position now. We have stopped asking for a chance. We are offering one.
